An industry source tells [Gigwise]: “The band wanted to call it (their second album) ‘The British Empire’, but Sony (Columbia) were having none of it.

“They were worried about how ‘The British Empire’ might be perceived after some of the things that happened with colonialism.”

"Some of the things" that happened with colonialism - like it was an office trip that got a bit out of hand on towards the ends of the evening.

Mind you, considering that Kasabian have a doughy, beligerent belief that they are right and they have an inbuilt superiority over the other bands in the chart, maybe the name was more appropriate than Columbia might like to admit...